270px, Sō Yoshitoshi, founder of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain 270px, Sō Yoshiyori, the 15th next to last daimyo of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain 270px, Sō Yoshiaki, final daimyo of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain , also called the Tsushima Domain, was a domain of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. It is associated with Tsushima Province on Tsushima Island in modern-day

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

. In the

han system (, "domain") is a Japanese historical term for the Estate (land), estate of a daimyo in the Edo period (1603–1868) and early Meiji (era), Meiji period (1868–1912).Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Han"in ''Japan Encycloped ...

, Tsushima was a

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

abstraction based on periodic

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

surveys and projected agricultural yields. In other words, the domain was defined in terms of '' kokudaka'', not land area. This was different from the

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

of the West.

History

The Sō clan was one of few ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' clans during the Edo period which continued to control the same fiefs it controlled previously. Although it fought against

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

at the battle of Sekigahara, the Sō clan was allowed by the shogunate to continue to rule Tsushima and entrusted it to diplomatic negotiations and trade with

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

Korea. Its services included receptions of Korean missions to Japan. The Fuchū domain sold imports and bought exports in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. It negotiated trade and diplomacy with the Nagasaki Commissioner in Nagasaki. It had an office ('' waegwan'') in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

where daily trade and diplomatic service were conducted. The Fuchū domain was given the status of a 100,000 '' koku''-class ''han'' although its real production was below 30,000 ''koku'', on account of its important diplomatic status, and economic wealth as a result of trade with Korea. In the late 17th century, it prospered in Korean trade and with silver mines, but from the 18th century, it suffered from trade depression and depletion of silver ores. Its economic reforms and the shogunate's constant aid did not improve its finances. Increasing threats of Western imperial powers weighed heavily on the Fuchū domain. In 1861, a Russian naval ship occupied a port of Tsushima. What was worse for Tsushima was a growing internal conflict between pro- and anti-shogunate retainers. In 1862, it concluded an alliance with the Chōshū Domain, which was one of the prominent leaders of the '' Sonnō-jōi'' movement. But the anti-shogunate faction was purged in 1864. The loss of human resources prevented Tsushima from playing a significant role at the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. The last ''daimyō'' of Tsushima, Sō Shigemasa (Yoshiaki) became Governor of Izuhara Prefecture in 1869 and after the Abolition of the han system was given the title of Count ('' hakushaku'') in 1884. The diplomatic service with Korea was taken over by the new

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

** Tsushima Province ** Kamigata-gun- 44 villages ** Shimogata-gun- 63 villages, Izuhara-cho ** Shimotsuke Province ** Tsuga County - 5 villages ** Aso counties - 6 villages ** Chikuzen Province ** Ito County- 14 villages ** Buzen Province ** Usa County - 8 villages ** Shimomo County - 21 villages ** Hizenkoku Province ** Kiji-gun - 13 villages ** Yabu County - 5 villages ** Matsuura County - 49 villages

List of daimyōs

The hereditary ''

s'' were head of the Sō clan and head of the domain. :

Genealogy (simplified)

* I. Sō Yoshitoshi, 1st Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (cr. 1588) (1568–1615; r. 1588–1615) ** II. Yoshinari, 2nd Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1604–1657; r. 1615–1657) *** III. Yoshizane, 3rd Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1639-1702; r. 1657–1692) **** IV. Yoshitsugu, 4th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1671–1694; r. 1692–1694) **** V. Yoshimichi, 5th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1684–1718; r. 1694–1718) **** VI. Yoshinobu, 6th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1692–1730; r. 1718–1730) ***** VIII. Yoshiaki, 8th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1716–1752; r. 1732–1752) ****** X. Yoshinaga, 10th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1741–1778; r. 1762–1778) ******* XI. Yoshikatsu I, 11th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1771–1785; r. 1778–1785) ******* XII. Yoshikatsu II (Isaburō), 12th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1773–1813; r. 1785–1812) ******** XIII. Yoshikata, 13th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1800–1838; r. 1812–1838) ********* XIV. Yoshiaya, 14th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1818–1842; r. 1838–1842) ********* XV. Yoshiyori, 15th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1818–1890; r. 1842–1862; 34th family head: 1862–1890) ********** XVI. Yoshiakira (Shigemasa), 16th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū, 1st Count (1847–1902; Lord: 1862–1868; Governor: 1869–1871; 35th family head: 1890–1902; Count: 1884) *********** Shigemochi, 2nd Count, 36th family head (1867–1923; 36th family head and 2nd Count: 1902–1923) ********** Kuroda Kazushi, 1st Viscount (1851–1917; adopted into the Kuroda family; Viscount: 1884) *********** Takeyuki, 3rd Count, 37th family head (1908–1985; 37th family head and 3rd Count: 1923–1947; 37th family head: 1947–1985) ************ Tatsuhito, 38th family head (b. 1956; 38th family head: 1985–present) ***** IX. Yoshishige, 9th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1717–1775; r. 1752–1762) **** VII. Michihiro, 7th Lord of Tsushima-Fuchū (1696–1760; r. 1731–1732) Genealogy (jp)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsushima-Fuchu Domain Domains of Japan Kyushu region

History

Holdings at the end of the Edo period

List of daimyōs

Genealogy (simplified)

See also

References